Celebrating our Paris Olympians

The dressage was a feast for the eyes, and the jumping course challenged the very best.

Let’s talk dressage first and what a spectacular venue! Held in the stunning gardens of the Château de Versailles, the sport’s elite put in some unforgettable performances.

Our congratulations to Jayden Brown, William Matthew and Simone Pearce, three talented young Australian riders who certainly did us proud. In the qualifying round, Jayden and Quincy B scored 68.991, Will and Mysterious Star produced a score of 69.953, while Simone and the eye-catching stallion Destano (the pair first represented Australia at the Tokyo Olympics) pulled out the stops with 70.171, giving the team a total score of 209.115 and a berth in the Dressage Team Grand Prix Special.

While their final team score of 207.203 put them out of medal contention against the always highly competitive Europeans, their performance was certainly something to celebrate.

Our show jumping team comprised Thaisa Erwin and Hialita B, Hilary Scott with Milky Way, and Edwina Tops-Alexander aboard Fellow Castlefield. With a maximum fence height of 1.65m, oxer spreads of up to 1.90m, water spanning 4.0m, and a time allowance of 79 seconds, this course put the best to the test.

Hilary collected 16 penalties in 74.24, Thaisa also with 16 penalties finished in 76.88, and Edwina had 4 penalties in 78.74 seconds. Although this put the team out of contention, which would have been so disappointing for them, it was nonetheless a great effort around a very challenging course.

To all our equestrian Olympians, congratulations on a job well done.